All Things End: Recovery
by Couragefan09
Summary: Courage is a young man who has spent his life under the abusive thumb of his adoptive father. Sent to a mental hospital over the delusions he has due to the abuse, he soon meets his roommate, a rude, cynical, long term patient with a history he'd rather keep to himself. However, as they learn to tolerate each other, they will inevitably begin to open up to each other.
1. First Meeting

A/N: So, this is a very sudden and unexpected project that took hold of me recently. It popped up while brainstorming some ATE ideas with xDragonMuffins and Sapphirre98, and somehow, someway they have managed to get me to like the idea of an All Things End human AU. I've always said that I don't particularly care for human AUs, but the idea behind this was one that I really started to enjoy. Initially I wrote up a few scenes just for the three of us, but that quickly ballooned out of control and they managed to convince me that this is good enough to put up on here. For any new potential readers who are unfamiliar with All Things End, I highly suggest you at least read a good portion of Volume I before reading this as it is heavily entwined with the characterization, themes, and events of the main All Things End story.

The general idea behind this is that the human Courage of this verse has been institutionalized after a life of abuse at Eustace's hands. After having been beaten down and made to feel worthless so many times, he has come to view himself as nothing more than the dog Eustace claims that he is and has delusions about actually being a dog. I'm kinda running with a bunch of those fan theories out there that the events of the show never happened and are just the delusions of a scared dog, only with a human this time instead LOL. As for Computer, the things that were done to him by 'Him' have also occurred here, just under a wildly different context and circumstances. I won't go too deeply into it here because it's a big part of this AU just as much as it is for the main All Things End story. The big difference here for human Computer is that he's getting the therapy that his machine/dog-self so badly needs but will never get. LOL

On that note, I just want to say that this is merely a collection of scenes that are put together in chronological order. They aren't going to flow together perfectly. This will be a few chapters long, mostly because there are a few scenes I have planned out and haven't written yet. Maybe somewhere down the line I will flesh this out into a full story, but as I've always said, finishing All Things End is my priority and I just can't juggle two stories right now. Regardless, I hope you enjoy what I do put up. On DeviantArt there will be some art for this too, so go check it out.

All Things End: Recovery

By: Couragefan09

-First Meeting-

"Head on in, dear." The nurse urged.

Courage walked into the sterile room where two beds lay on either side of a single barred up window. He clutched the pillow the nurse had given him closer to his chest when his eyes fell upon his roommate. The 'difficult one' that nurse had muttered out under her breath to a second nurse she and Courage had run into in the hall.

" _He's staying with the difficult one..."_

Courage stared nervously.

His roommate was an older, haggard looking man with dark shadows under his eyes that only seemed amplified by his glasses. He was sitting atop his bed, reading a book, and he did not look up at Courage even once. He seemed completely content to ignore Courage even as the metal door was shut and locked.

There was the distant rumble of thunder outside as the dark window lit up briefly from lightning on the horizon. Courage swallowed fearfully. Muriel had said that this was the safest place for him right now, but nobody had told her that he'd be thrown into a room with another mental patient. This man, of course, had to be crazy, just like Courage. Because why else would he be here?

The one light overhead that was keeping the room illuminated suddenly went out. No doubt it was bedtime for the patients and they weren't about to let anyone have a sleepover party. Courage bit back a whimper. He had told the doctor that he didn't like the dark! Why had he not listened? They couldn't even bother to get a nightlight for his room?

Of course, having a fellow crazy person in this room, one that he could now barely see, didn't help much with his anxiety. He wanted to curl up into a ball and pretend he had once again been thrown into the closet, but Eustace's favorite closet was now miles away. Courage was now with someone who might potentially be even more dangerous than Eustace. A day or two of being locked in the closet could not compare.

The man on the bed let out a sigh. "I swear they're turning the lights off earlier and earlier every night. Do they think I need my beauty sleep or something? Those fools know how much I despise sleeping, but they never listen."

The man spoke with a surprisingly authoritative if not deeply cynical voice. It was not the voice Courage had expected to hear from another crazy person. The truly worrying thing was that the man was clearly ranting only to himself. In fact, he was still acting like his new roommate wasn't even there.

Courage could just barely see the man flop backwards onto his pillow.

"J-just stay calm." Courage whispered to himself, trying to remember the words of the doctor from barely an hour beforehand.

"You don't have to worry about him." The doctor had said after deciding to put Courage in this room with this patient. Courage had seen the nurse give a protesting look, one that had set his anxiety off like nothing else, and the doctor had tried to alleviate his fears.

"Fear not, my dear boy. His condition is similar to yours. He is more of a danger to himself than he is to anybody else."

Courage did not want to believe it. Eustace had always told him that he was only toughening him up for the 'real world'. He had always said that most people out there were far worse than him. While the doctors and nurses were nice enough, they were paid to act that way. This man he was now roommates with was the 'real world' that Eustace had always warned him about.

Since he was being ignored, he decided that he would ignore his roommate as well. Making his way over to his bed, without any shoes his feet barely made a sound on the cold floor. The nurse had forgotten to grab him a pair back in the laundry room where he had slipped out of his civilian clothing for the white hospital clothing he now wore. He placed his pillow down and pulled opened the blankets. They were surprisingly thin and rather stiff.

Another rumble of thunder made him wince. It was bad enough that he was in the dark with a person who's mental wellness was suspect, but the oncoming storm was only making things worse. He hated thunder and lightning about as much as he hated darkness.

The metal frame of the bed squeaked loudly as he laid down. It was such a horrible sound in this oppressive, empty space. Nothing about the bed was particularly comfortable, but it was better than the few places Eustace allowed him to sleep back on the farm.

The old man had been so angry when Muriel bought Courage a cot to sleep on, even though it would have been placed up in the empty attic where it would have not taken up much room. A stubborn man who hated to waste money, he had kept the cot but never allowed Courage to use it. Instead, Courage had been punished greatly for Muriel's kind gesture. One of the punishments was that he had to sleep outside for a week, and he had done just that. If he dared to sleep in the barn or chicken coop that made up the majority of the rundown farm that belonged to his family, he had to make sure he woke up early enough to head back outside before Eustace could find him in a place that he wasn't supposed to be.

"Dogs deserve to sleep in the dirt!" The old man's voice screamed through Courage's head, causing him to shiver.

"I shouldn't be sleeping in this bed." He whimpered out very softly. "I should be on the-"

"I can't believe they already brought in another one." Said that dry, cynical voice from the bed over. It was enough to snap Courage out of his spiraling thoughts and he tensed up with fear. His new roommate had finally acknowledged his presence.

"I keep telling those idiots that I don't want company! And I especially don't want the company of the mentally insane! Surely they get enough taxpayer money that they could increase the size of this hellhole by a few rooms!"

There was a squeak as Courage's roommate sat up.

"Look, whoever you are," The man spat.

There was the soft sound of his feet hitting the tiled floor.

"I am not insane, thank you very much. Let's just get that out of the way first. I am also not a pushover, nor will I entertain the whims of whatever delusions you have. Let me make this very clear. I am not trapped in this room with you. You are trapped in this room with me. And the sooner you understand that, the less miserable our time in this cage will be."

Courage tensed up even more. His new roommate was leaning right over him as he spoke in that hateful, dismissive tone. All Courage wanted to do was roll out of his covers and slip under the bed to hide, but it wouldn't matter where he went.

"I-I'm not insane e-either!" He stammered out, hoping that it might appease the man.

"Is that so?" His roommate scoffed. "Well then. Understand this. Don't ever ask me why I was put into this prison and I will afford you the same courtesy."

"O-okay." Courage whimpered.

There was a sharp crack just above his ear that made him involuntarily throw the covers up over his head, but it had just been his new roommate clapping his hands together.

"Good, good." The man sighed. "Now, I am happily going to get back to pretending like you don't exist."

In spite of his fear, somehow Courage managed to blurt out the words, "W-wait! Before you do that, s-since we're probably going to be roommates for awhile, c-can you give me your name?"

The man let out a hollow laugh. "I seriously doubt you're going to be my roommate for very long, kid."

Courage swallowed as his nervousness began to fade. It was clear that this man wasn't about to snap or do something horrible. He seemed to have his wits about him, for the most part, in spite of his mean attitude.

"That doesn't answer my question." Courage pressed.

The man let out an annoyed sigh. "It's Computer, you twit."

"Computer? That's not a-"

"You've got a problem with that?" He cut in. There was the hint of a threat in his tone.

"N-no! No!" Courage sheepishly laughed. He couldn't help but think of the old, unused computer that sat up in the attic, which he, of course, had never been allowed to touch.

"I suppose I should ask you what your name is too." Computer drawled, a squeak from his bed making it clear that he had just sat back down.

"Courage."

"Oh? And 'that' is supposed to be name?" He mocked.

"I-It's not my real name, it's just-" His voice faltered.

 _'No, no.'_ He thought. _'I am Courage. That's the name Muriel gave me. It's like Eustace says. I'm just a-'_

He squeezed his eyes shut and somehow managed to force himself to focus on the reality before him.

"Remember what I said, kid." That Computer fellow chuckled. "I refuse to entertain any of your delusions, _Courage_."

"Says the guy who's calling himself Computer!"

The man laid down, followed by a cacophony of squeaks. "Hey, it's not a delusion if I decide that it isn't! If I ever get out of this place, I will most certainly be getting my name changed!" He laughed, and it was the closest thing to a genuine laugh he had managed so far. Of course, even this was tinged with an edge of cynicism.

Perhaps this 'Computer' wasn't quite as sane as he outwardly appeared. Of course, he wouldn't be here unless that was the case. Courage couldn't really judge him for it though. It wasn't like he was in much better shape.

The rain had finally arrived and it beat down on the window in sheets. Courage flinched at every flash of lightning and rumble of thunder. He could not scream no matter how much it got to him and he had to fight with himself not to do so. He wasn't on the farm anymore. He couldn't just go into a blind panic like before, especially not with such a mocking roommate like this one who would no doubt laugh at him.

Unable to stop himself, he looked over at Computer, wondering if he was able to sleep through so much noise. The lighting flashes lit up the room long enough to give him his answer. His roommate was staring dully up at the ceiling. He did not look like he was anywhere near close to falling asleep. Perhaps thunderstorms scared him as well?

Courage couldn't help but ask. "Does...does it scare you too?"

"What? The storm? Of course not." Computer replied dismissively. "I just don't sleep much if I can help it. Our wonderful overlords say that I have insomnia but that implies I can't sleep when I just prefer not to."

"Why don't you like to sleep? I think it's pretty nice. My dreams are always a lot happier then, well...hmm. Do you have nightmares?"

There was a long silence only punctured by thunder. Then, finally,

"You're going to break my record for how fast I get my roommates relocated, you twit!"

End Of Chapter


	2. Breakfast

A/N: Well, this is probably the only Courage story I've written since starting ATE that I've actually updated with a second chapter. I delayed finishing this to focus on writing ATE chapters several times, but it's finally here!

-Breakfast-

"Hey!"

Courage groaned sleepily and turned over in his bed. Eustace was yelling at him to wake up, he was sure of it, but it was so nice to be sleeping in an actual bed. He didn't care how stiff and uncomfortable it was, it was still so nice to have. Just this once he would risk punishment, if only to enjoy this a little while longer...

"Hey! Wake up, you twit!"

Courage's eyes snapped open and he turned over onto his back in a rush. For a moment he had forgotten where he was, and without his glasses he could barely make out the face looming over him. Instinctively, his arms flew up to his head in an attempt to protect himself.

"Don't be that way, idiot! I'm not going to do anything! I've simply decided to be your alarm clock! They will be here in about five minutes to unlock the door, and since you're new here, they're going to go over a million different things with you. So I'd rather you be awake and ready to go ahead of time so that this will go as smoothly as possible and I can get to breakfast as soon as possible."

Courage had left his glasses on the plastic nightstand beside his bed. He fumbled blindly trying to grab them, his eyes flitting from the blurry face to the nightstand and then back again to the blurry face several times.

"H-how do you know they'll be here in five minutes?" He asked. "T-there isn't a clock, or at least I didn't see one last night before they turned the lights off."

"Roughly five minutes, give or take, and if you must know, I happen to be rather attuned to the schedule that everybody runs on in this place. The morning hustle and bustle has already begun and soon they will be taking us patients down to the cafeteria for breakfast. They supervise us at all times, but thankfully they do not breathe down our necks. If you are expecting to have a guard trailing behind you at all times, you are mistaken. There will be somebody nearby in case you decide to go off the deep end and they have to subdue you, but generally they respect our boundaries and thank goodness for that or else this place would have been the thing to drive me mad instead."

Courage stood up and adjusted his huge, round glasses. Through the barred window he could see that it was overcast outside and rather gloomy. He suspected that it wasn't even seven in the morning yet.

He turned his eyes back onto his new roommate, and with the gloomy light filtering into the room, he could finally get a better look at him. There were still deep shadows under his eyes, and Courage was certain that he must not have slept at all overnight. He was leering at him with severe blue eyes and narrow spectacles. His hair was short and graying, but what really caught Courage's attention was the scars. This Computer guy had more than a few faded scars of varying shapes and sizes all over his face and even on his neck. There was one particular scar running from the bottom of his jaw, all the way up his cheek, and ending so close to his eye that Courage was amazed he hadn't lost it to whatever had made the scar in the first place.

"It's rude to stare, you know!" He spat, obviously not enjoying the fact that he was being scrutinized, and it probably didn't help that Courage couldn't stop gaping like an idiot.

Trying to pull himself together, Courage blinked several times and then looked away sheepishly.

"Hmph! The bathroom is over there, twit!" His roommate huffed. "Go freshen up and change your clothes! You've got three minutes now before they come and don't you dare make me have to wait for breakfast!"

"Uh, they didn't give me an extra pair of clothes." Courage replied, looking down at himself. Admittedly, he was very tall, and it had been hard for them to find a pair of those white shirts and pants for him.

"That's not my problem! Just do whatever you've got to do!"

Courage stood up, and while Computer was maybe just a tiny bit short all on his own, Courage himself was tall enough to all but tower over him. It didn't account for much though. He did not have an ounce of muscle on him and while he _'was'_ tall, his gangly arms and legs made him far more clumsier than he liked.

He headed for the bathroom door, having completely missed it last night because he had been so focused on Computer before the lights went out. Grabbing the handle, he looked back at Computer, who was still watching him with arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"Don't tell me you're so stupid you don't even know how a bathroom works?"

"Y-you don't have to be so mean!" Courage stammered, opening the door, stepping inside, and then slamming the door shut right away. Anything to get away from that judgmental gaze for a little while.

The bathroom had a softness to it unlike anything he was used to seeing. It was like it had been stripped of anything you could possibly hurt yourself with and replaced with a softer counterpart. The shower was one Courage had never seen before in that you stood up in it. The one on the farm had been like a big bowel and you ran the risk of falling while getting in or out, not that Eustace had ever let him shower very often. Only when his smell became too great for the old man to bear. Half the time he simply threw Courage outside with a bucket of water and a little soup, but on occasion Muriel would fight to let him use the bathtub.

"No mirror." He murmured, having noticed the lack of one over the small sink. There was a soap dispenser, but no toothbrush or toothpaste.

He didn't mind the lack of any of those things. His appearance hardly mattered to him. There wasn't much of himself to look at, with his long, ugly face that Eustace loved to mock him for, even though his own face was just as long and ugly. Courage always had a little bit of hair growing on his chin that he had never had the means to shave off, and there was also his brown, unkempt hair that Muriel herself cut whenever the chance arose. There was also his brown eyes that Muriel had always said were very pretty, but he never really considered them anything special.

He soon exited the bathroom to find a man waiting for him in the main room, standing beside a very impatient looking Computer.

"Ah, you are-" The man spoke, looking down at his clipboard.

"Just call me Courage."

"Right, er, Mr. Bagge then. We generally don't permit the use of nicknames around here, but given certain circumstances..." He gave a quick glance over at Computer.

Computer gave a nonchalant shrug in response. "Ask me about what happened to the last idiot who tried to use my old name."

"I think I'll pass..." Courage weakly uttered out.

"Well, anyways." The man spoke, taking a step away from Computer. "It's time to go over your schedule-"

After ten or so minutes of explanations, rules, schedules, and various activities he could take part in during his free time, Courage was finally guided out of the room along with Computer and they were escorted down to the cafeteria.

"Eggs again?" Computer muttered to himself, rubbing his tired face in annoyance.

There was a whiteboard on the wall beside the cafeteria door displaying what they would be serving for breakfast, lunch, and supper today.

"Eggs! It's always eggs on Friday! Seven years! I've been stuck here for seven long years and they can't even bother to switch up the menu once in awhile? Ugh, I never want to see another egg for as long as I live!"

Courage, utterly stunned, came to a sudden halt and their escort nearly ran right into his back.

"C'mon now! Keep moving!" The man gently but also firmly urged.

Seven years? What on earth could be so wrong with this Computer guy that he was still in a mental hospital after seven years? Courage was suddenly very worried about how safe he was with this Computer person all over again.

The cafeteria looked like one you'd find in any school. There were plenty of patients getting their breakfasts and at least ten supervisors were stationed in different parts of the cafeteria to keep an eye on things. They were not acting like unfriendly guards either. A few of them were chatting happily with the patients.

School...

Courage bit his lip as he followed Computer over to the lunch line. He had been in elementary school once, if only for a very short amount of time, but it had been long enough for a place like this to feel familiar to him. Muriel was the one who had wanted him to attend school, but the town of Nowhere had been too small to have a school of its own, so Courage needed to be driven to a school nearly an hour away. The moment Eustace had figured out how much gas it cost to take him to that school everyday, he immediately called the school up and forced him to drop out. While Muriel had tried to pick up the slack by homeschooling him, Eustace had enjoyed intervening in that too. He had mocked Courage for being stupid and talked over Muriel constantly until she gave up.

" _You're just a mutt we picked up off the street! A dog like you is too stupid to deserve an education!"_

Courage shuddered at the memory.

At the lunch line, he grabbed a tray and slid it down the line as several lunch ladies placed food onto the tray. He glanced over at Computer, who was still ahead of him, and that was when he noticed yet another new thing about his strange roommate. He was wearing a white glove, like one you'd see a butler wearing, on his right hand.

But his left hand...

Courage couldn't stop himself from wincing at the sight of it. Computer's left hand looked like it had been shoved into a blender at some point and then been left to heal horribly afterwords. It was a gnarled mess of bumpy, raised scars. Courage could not stop staring with his mouth gaping open like an idiot. He was not even sure how Computer could even use that hand. It had to have a whole host of flexibility issues and even his fingers were badly scarred.

Computer, sensing that he was being stared at, glanced over at Courage. Realizing that his left hand was being eyed up, he dropped it to his side where Courage could no longer see it.

"What is it with you and staring?" He asked indignity.

Courage was left silently wondering why Computer would cover up his right hand but not the gnarled left one. How bad could the right one possibly be in that case? The mental image Courage's imagination came up with left him nauseated.

"Why is it so hard for people to mind their own business?" Computer grumbled to himself, pushing his tray forward.

Embarrassed, Courage decided that he'd do everything but look at Computer. The food they were putting on his tray looked pretty good. It reminded him of Muriel's cooking, something that he had only been allowed to enjoy when Eustace wasn't around. Muriel had always been careful about that sort of thing, but those moments of safety were few and far between. As far as Eustace was concerned, he didn't care if Courage starved. He'd never been allowed to eat at the table with his parents, and he had often been left the most meager or disgusting bits of food to eat when he 'was' fed. Muriel's cooking was for Eustace and that man would never share what was his with a mere mutt.

"When are you going to get it through your thick skull? No coffee! It's only milk or juice for you!" A voice yelled, pulling Courage out of his thoughts.

One of the lunch ladies was in an argument with Computer who must have started it while Courage was distracted by his thoughts and not paying attention.

"You know the rules!" She went on. "You're not allowed to have any caffeine until you start sleeping regularly!"

"Okay, okay!" Computer relented with a listless shrug of his shoulders. "It's been months now so I thought perhaps I could get away with just the tiniest cup of coffee that you might have available."

The lunch lady's eyes narrowed. "Don't you play your games with me, machine man. I know your tricks."

She placed a milk carton down in front of Computer, who leered at it in disgust.

"Eggs and milk! It's the same stuff day in and day out! Bah! I never even liked milk before I got locked in here in the first place!"

"Oh, enough of your complaining! It's the same thing from you day in and day out too, you know! If you really want, I can give you juice instead!"

Computer reached for the carton. "If there's one thing I hate more than milk, it's that fake garbage made out of sugar with no hint of actual fruit juice to be found!"

Courage watched as Computer picked up the carton of milk, only for it to slip out of his fingers and fall to the floor. It immediately burst open, sending milk everywhere. At first, Courage assumed that it was an act of defiance from Computer, but his expression seemed to suggest otherwise. Apparently he had grabbed the carton with his bad hand without even realizing it.

"Great..." He quipped, the word coming out more like a sigh.

"Don't worry about it. I'll have someone clean that up." The lunch lady spoke up, her combative attitude dissipating somewhat. She handed another carton to Computer who was far more careful with it this time around.

As Computer left to find a place to sit, the lunch lady turned her attention onto Courage.

"Oh, you're our new patient!" She jovially exclaimed. "If I remember correctly, your name is-"

"Just...call me Courage."

He gave her a nervous smile.

"Sure thing, dear. Watch out for that puddle, okay?"

Courage stepped over the milk spillage so that he could get closer to where the lunch lady was standing on the other side of the counter. She seemed to be sizing him up, as if she had to be careful or else he might turn out to be another tricky patient like Computer.

"You don't have any dietary restrictions from the doctor, I believe. So, in that case, you have milk, juice, and coffee to choose from. And if none of that appeals to you, we can just give you plain, old water instead."

Having never had coffee before, he decided he'd give it a shot. Muriel had always been a tea drinker and she had on a few rare occasions brewed him a cup. Coffee had always been Eustace's thing and he certainly would never have given any of it up to a mutt.

"You're _'his'_ new roommate too, aren't you?" The lunch lady asked just as he was about to walk off to the tables with coffee and tray in hand.

"Y-yeah?"

She let out a good humored chuckle. "You're the third one this month!"

Courage winced. How on earth could she find that funny? It was barely even two weeks into the month for goodness sake! What the heck could have happened to the other two people?

"His bark is way worse than his bite, dear! I've been dealing with him for years now! He's an absolute coffee fiend, and he's creative about finding ways to get his hands on it too! They almost banned coffee from this hospital entirely once because of him!"

Courage was not entirely sure why he should find any humor in any of this, and his mildly nervous expression was quick to be noticed by the lunch lady.

"Don't you worry about him! If he starts giving you trouble, just call him Calculator instead and he'll back off real quick! If push comes to shove, you can always come talk to me and I will give him a piece of my mind! That silly fool needs to get used to having a roommate for once. He can't keep driving everyone off forever."

"T-thank you!" Courage stammered, glad to have someone to turn to if this Computer guy ended up being as much of a nightmare as his previous roommates had apparently found out.

Courage found himself an empty table and sat down. None of the other patients seemed interested in talking to him or even letting him sit with them, and that was perfectly fine with him. Friends were something that seemed beyond him anyway. He was just a dumb mutt after all, and he was unlikely to see any of these people again once he was out of here either way.

As he dug into his food, he suddenly got the distinct feeling that he was being watched. He tried to ignore it for the longest time, but eventually his anxiety got the better of him. Looking up from his food, he could see his roommate eying him up from a nearby table. He figured it would be best just to ignore him and focused upon on his food once again.

It was not to be, however, because all of a sudden his roommate was upon him.

"Well hello there, new ' _friend_ '." Computer mockingly greeted him, sliding into a chair beside him.

"Hey..." Courage muttered out absentmindedly, wishing that Computer would just go away.

"I happened to notice that you have coffee." His scheming roommate went on.

"Yeah? What about it?" Courage replied, reaching a hand out and sliding the cup farther away from the apparent 'coffee fiend'.

"Look, I want to cut a deal with you, you lanky excuse for a twit." His roommate huffed indignantly. "I will give you literally everything on my tray just for that cup of coffee."

Courage considered it for a moment. The coffee wasn't ' _that_ ' important to him, and if it got Computer off his back for a little while...

"Alright, you can have it, I guess."

Computer eagerly snatched the cup up. "Finally!" He exclaimed greedily.

Unfortunately, the coffee didn't have time to get anywhere near his lips because the lunch lady had been watching them and she called out to him from across the cafeteria.

"Hey! You know the rules, machine man! No caffeine! Give it back to Courage!"

Computer's eager expression was quickly replaced with a glum look of annoyance.

"Foiled again." He sighed. "Just take it before I do something that will give them a reason to lock me up in here for another seven years."

Courage reached for the coffee cup, and as his fingers wrapped around it, they inadvertently touched Computer's own gloved fingers. Instantly, it became very clear to him that something was very wrong with Computer's gloved hand. Startled, he let out a yelp in fear and pulled his hand back as fast as he could.

Computer nearly dropped the coffee in a panic. "Shhhh! You idiot!" He harshly whispered, using his bad hand to cover Courage's mouth.

Courage couldn't stop himself from trembling like a leaf. Whatever was under that glove had been hard and cold, like some kind of metal.

Computer glanced around the room, checking to see if anyone of authority had noticed what just happened. If the lunch lady had seen it, she was ignoring it, because she had turned away to help pack up some leftovers with another lunch lady.

"Don't go crying out like that! As if I just hurt you or something of the same sort!" Computer hissed in a low voice, still keeping his scarred hand pressed to Courage's mouth. Courage could feel his fingers twitching at times, and he suspected that it wasn't entirely voluntary.

"I'll remove my hand and explain myself if you promise not to start crying like a child!"

Courage nodded weakly, and with a sigh of relief, Computer lowered his hand.

"Look," He said, carefully using his bad hand to pull back the glove hiding whatever was under the other one.

Courage stared, unsure of what to think. At least it wasn't an even more horribly gnarled hand. Instead it was a metal one seemingly made out of complex machinery.

"It's a prosthetic, and a very advanced one at that." He explained.

He pulled up his sleeve to show that the prosthetic was attached to where his wrist should have been. His real hand, obviously, was gone. Worst still, Courage could not help but notice that the scars that covered his other hand and face also ran up his arm as far as it could be seen. The worst of the scarring was near where the stump of his hand would be had the prosthetic not been attached to it.

"I was only allowed to have it under the condition that I do not hurt myself or anyone else with it. So I don't appreciate you yelping like I tried to hurt you." He raised his scarred hand. "This one is practically useless so I would very much like to not lose the one good thing they've given me in this prison. Just be glad you've never had to try and hold a book and also turn the pages with only one hand. It is as every bit maddening as you can imagine."

Courage couldn't help but ask, "S-so why do you wear a glow over that one but not the other?"

Computer made a halfhearted effort to clench his scarred hand into a fist and only managed to get it about half way. "It's simple, really. People expect something like this around here. This is the pity party ward after all. Everyone who's here has had something done to them that messed them up in the head, and there are usually physical scars that come along with it. Besides, I have enough issues using this hand without having to deal with a slippery glove on top of it. This prosthetic though? I got tired of all the questions after the millionth time, so I prefer to hide it. People at least know better than to ask about the other one, but everyone and their mother thinks they are a master engineer when it comes to my prosthetic."

"I-I understand. S-sorry for g-getting scared."

Computer shook his head. "Man you are a coward, stammering away like that. Just don't get my prosthetic taken away and I will 'happily' put up with your pathetic cowardice."

He put the glove back on with some difficulty, and without saying another word, he took his tray and headed back to his own empty table.

Courage couldn't stop himself from glancing in his direction several times, but Computer either didn't notice or care. Everything about that guy made Courage nervous, and somehow he was going to have to keep sharing a room with him.

He had quickly come to notice a certain trait about him though. Regardless of what sort of expression he had on his face at any time, his eyes always held a certain dull, disinterred, and almost deadened look to them. Courage was not sure if it was just tiredness that made him look that way or if it was something else. It gave him a rather gloomy air, like he was only going through the motions, or like he was only doing what was expected of him and nothing more.

A/N: This scene is, more or less, meant to show that the things that were done to Computer by 'Him' are far more external than internal compared to the main ATEverse. Human Computer at least has the benefit that he's not slowly dying from the injuries inflicted upon him. His hands being the part of him that got messed up the most kinda comes from the thing he said early on in ATE Volume I, about how his keyboard keys are kind of like fingers. Plus, having a metal hand works as a small nod to the machine nature of his main story counterpart.


	3. Muriel

-Muriel-

By the time an entire week had passed, Courage was well into the swing of things. While strict, the mental hospital was not oppressive. Between his therapy sessions, there were various activities he could take part in with other patients. He did not have to spent his free time entirely locked up in his room like he had expected the day he first stepped inside this hospital.

Computer, thankfully, kept to himself most of the time. Usually he had his nose buried in a book and paid little heed whenever Courage returned from an outing. You'd get the impression from him that they really did keep everyone locked up at all times, but it quickly became clear that his solitude was entirely self-imposed. He refused to leave unless forced to go to therapy or to eat.

Courage had tried to hold a conversation with him a few times. It didn't seem right to have a roommate who you could ignore completely, even if they were happy to do the same to you. None of their conversations had ended on a good note. Computer was undeniably argumentative, harsh, and deeply cynical. He seemed to go into every conversation with the goal to end it as soon as possible.

Thankfully, whatever Computer had done to drive off his other roommates, he either wasn't trying it with Courage or it simply wasn't working. Apparently the nurses considered it some kind of miracle that Courage had made it a whole week without needing to be relocated. He had overheard them gossiping while returning from therapy the other day. Well, he was used to dealing with a harsh, rude, and very mean-spirited personality already. Of course, Eustace was far worse than Computer in so many ways, but maybe that was why he could handle Computer's attitude better than any of the other previous roommates.

There was one thing he had taken notice of though. Whenever Computer returned from any of his appointments, he would always have such a miserable air about him. While he would do his best to hide it by either burying himself in whatever book he had at the time or locking himself in the bathroom and taking incredibly long showers, Courage still had picked up on it within the first couple of days. He knew better than to ask Computer if he was okay, but he still felt a little sorry for him.

Nobody seemed willing to tell him anything about Computer. Not the patients, not the nurses, and not the doctors. While he had only asked a few discreet questions here and there, even with Computer's reputation that was well known by just about everybody in the hospital, nobody really had anything to say about how he had gotten those injuries and why he was still being treated in this hospital after seven long years.

Courage had ultimately decided that he didn't want to get too nosy, so after having asked a few people, he figured it would be better to just let things be. As curious as he was, in the end it wasn't his business to pry, and if Computer found out that he had been asking around about him, there was no doubt that he would bring his wrath down upon him.

It was at breakfast during the start of his second week in the hospital that Courage was given news from a nurse that made him nearly jump for joy.

Muriel was coming to visit!

She had promised that she would come see him after he was settled in. There was no doubt that she was busy on her own end, given that she already had to pull a lot of strings just to get him admitted to this hospital in the first place. She did not have much money, given that most of it was being horded away by Eustace. It'd been very hard to get Courage the help he needed without it, but money or no, Eustace was always a worry on both of their minds. It had been very important, at the time, and still very important now, that he not find out where Courage had been institutionalized. Just finding out that Courage had been taken away to where he could no longer crush him under his boot must have left him in such a foul rage, possibly for days on end.

A shudder ran down Courage's spine at the thought of Eustace's anger, but not even that was enough to ruin his happy mood. Muriel would be here soon and he had missed her so much!

He noticed Computer eying him up from a nearby table as he scarfed down his food as fast as he could. His roommate almost looked confused. Had he heard what the nurse said? Courage decided not to dwell on it. In fact, he wanted to avoid Computer's attention for now. That man was the only person around who might be able to destroy his gleeful mood with only a few words.

Courage spent the next few hours eagerly awaiting Muriel's arrival. He kept trying to looked out the barred window for her, but his room was not in the best position to see who was coming and going outside.

"For goodness sake, twit. Stop pacing about and trying to shove your face through the bars. I am not going to help you if you get stuck."

Courage ignored his roommate. All he cared about was seeing Muriel again.

More time passed, and Courage's nervous excitement nearly overwhelmed him when there was a knock at the door and it slowly opened up. His hopes were jaded, however, as the nurse who walked in was here for Computer.

"Again?" His roommate huffed. "I just saw that idiot yesterday! When is he going to get it through his thick skull that I'm not-" He stopped himself and glanced warily in Courage's direction. Shaking his head, he continued much more calmly with,"Hmph! He's never going to give me what I want, so we're stuck at an impasse that shall never be resolved. He is not going to 'cure' me, and as long as that's the truth of it, I will never leave this place."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but you must come with me. Your doctor wants to talk with you so you must go."

"Fine, fine." He sighed. "I suppose I won't cause a scene in front of the new guy, but I do have a few choice words for my 'wonderful' doctor."

"I'm sure he will be glad to hear them." The nurse coolly dismissed him.

With Computer gone, Courage could finally pace and look out the window without any complaints. Finally, after what felt like ages, a nurse came into the room to tell him that Muriel was waiting for him. He was escorted to the back of the building and out a pair of doors into a big, walled off garden. He'd heard about this garden a few days ago but had not had a chance to visit it until now. It was meant to give the patients a place to walk around outside while also giving them the option to tend to the greenery if they so wished.

There was definitely a soothing air to the garden, and the nice weather helped too. Courage was more than a little grateful to spend some time under the sun while also getting a little fresh air. Being inside the hospital did often leave him feeling a little cooped up.

Muriel, with her white hair and yellow dress, was sitting on a bench near the entrance. She looked up at Courage, her eyes obscured by her thick glasses, and smiled.

"Muriel!" He happily exclaimed, leaving his nurse escort behind. He'd already been told that they were allowed privacy for the duration of Muriel's visit.

"Hello, dear." She answered warmly, although there was a twinge of weariness in her voice.

Courage was so tall that when he hugged her he could have easily lifted her into the air if he wanted to.

"I'm so happy to hear that you've settled in without any problems." She continued. "I was so worried that I might have made the wrong choice by sending you here."

Courage shook his head. "Of course not. You...you were right all along. I-I needed this. I've been talking with my doctor a lot and he's been helping me sort out a lot of my thoughts and feelings. It's...not like how it was back on the farm."

Muriel seemed to darken. Her bright, happy face turning gloomy. "...It was good to get you away from Eustace. I should have done something sooner."

Courage bit his lip, guilt welling up inside of himself for having caused all of this. Even though his doctor had tried to reason with him several times now that none of this was his fault, he still felt responsible for not being strong enough to prevent his own institutionalization. He'd caused so much trouble for Muriel and he could not imagine how angry Eustace was now.

"There's an important reason why I set up this visit." She went on. "It was a risk coming here. We can't have Eustace figuring out where you are, but I felt you needed to know what was going on."

"What's happening?" Courage asked, worry rising within him.

"Eustace's illnesss, he went to see a specialist a few days ago, because it has been worsening lately. The tests results were far worse than they initially feared. He only has a few months left to live."

"Oh..." Courage breathed. It surprised him to realize that he felt nothing about this news. His adoptive father was dying and somehow he did not feel good or even bad about it.

"I'm glad that I brought you here when I did because he is in a near constant rage now. They say his illness affects the way his brain works and his behavior will only become worse as he deteriorates. He stormed out of the house yesterday and I haven't seen him since. It gave me a chance to come here and speak with you."

Courage swallowed and nodded hesitantly.

The last time he had brought Eustace's wrath down upon himself, it had been one of the worst punishments he had ever received. It was the reason why he was here now.

"There was something else that I needed to speak with you about as well." Muriel said. "I'm going to be leaving soon. I've bought myself a plane ticket and I'm going to fly back to my original country to be with what's left of my family. I'm afraid of what Eustace might do to me if I stay. I-" She hesitated. "I don't have any plans on coming back, so this will have to be our goodbye, my dearest child."

Something inside Courage seemed to break. "W-what? You're leaving? I-I won't get to see you again?"

Muriel turned away. "I've been a terrible mother to you. For years I let Eustace harm you. I let him put you into the state you're currently in. I'm the one who insisted we adopt a child even when I knew what sort of person he was. I was selfish. Everything that's happened to you is my fault, and so, it is best that we part ways."

Courage could feel the sting of tears forming in the edges of his eyes. "But M-Muriel...y-you've never been a bad mom to me. I-I don't want you to go. I-I'd miss you s-so much."

"You are a good and kind child. I am so glad that Eustace's personality never rubbed off on you." Her head dipped downward. "I never deserved such an angel for a child."

"M-Muriel...mom, I-"

"When Eustace dies, you will inherit everything that's his. He has certainly tried hard to make sure that doesn't happen, but since you are his only child and he has no other living relatives, he has no choice in the matter. If I were you, once you are released from this hospital, sell the farm and put all of those bad memories behind you. With your inheritance, I hope that you will be able to make a new and happier life for yourself."

Muriel slowly turned back around to face him, but Courage could barely see her through the tears in his eyes.

"Our time is up, deary."

Courage grabbed her by the hand as she tried to walk past him. "Mom, please! Don't go! I don't care about Eustace! I just want to go back to the farm with you! You've never been a bad mom! Never! I just want to go back to the farm!"

"I could never return you to a place where you would be harmed. You are safe here, and once you leave, Eustace will be gone forever. This was my last action as your mother. For once, I am going to keep you safe."

She slowly pulled her hand free. Courage felt it slip away from his gentle grip. Weak sobs got caught in his throat.

"I love you, mom." He choked out.

"I love you too, deary." She replied, but there was so much weariness and sadness in her voice.

He watched her go with tears streaming down his face. He did not want to believe that this might be the last time he would ever see her.

Why did she have to go?

He did not return to his room like he was supposed to. Instead, he followed the stone path deeper into the garden until he could go no further. He looked up at the concrete wall looming before him and stepped off the path. Among the flowers and greenery, he found a place between the wall and a row of bushes where he could not be seen from the path. He sat down and curled up into a ball. Then, he wept for ages, softly enough that nobody would be able to hear him.

It was all his fault.

Muriel was gone because of him.

If only he hadn't been such a mutt. If only he hadn't made Eustace's so angry all of the time. Muriel never would have felt the need to bring him here, and she wouldn't feel the need to leave him behind either.

He really was nothing more than a stupid dog. How could anybody as worthless as him ever be considered human? The stuff in his head, the 'delusions' that his doctor was trying to cure him of, they were more real than anything. It was the truth. He was just a dumb dog, too worthless to be human, and at least in that world he could still be there for Muriel. He should be the one keeping her safe, not the other way around.

He was not sure how long he remained there, with nothing but the soft sounds of birds singing and his own weak sobs. He did not want to go back. He did not deserve to go back.

There was suddenly the sound of footsteps on the path up ahead. He went very quiet and very still, hoping that it was just a patient going for an afternoon stroll. His absence had surely been noticed by now. They must be looking for him, but hopefully whoever this was wouldn't find him.

His stomach lurched when the sound of shoes on stone turned into the crunch of shoes on dirt. Whoever it was, they were heading right for him.

Holding his breath, he waited. Mentally, he begged the person to go away.

The sound of footsteps stopped in front of the bushes, then the person leaned over them, casting a shadow over Courage. Their face was obscured by the sun.

Courage shielded his eyes, hating that he had already been caught.

"They're looking for you, you know."

That voice.

"Computer?" He asked rather stupidly.

"Who else? You'd better hurry back if you don't want to be reprimanded."

Courage slowly got to his feet. Even though it was plainly obvious that he had been crying, Computer made no comment about it. He just stood there with his arms crossed, looking vaguely annoyed.

"How," Courage began. "How did you even know where I was?"

"I know all of the best hiding places around here...and this isn't one of them. It was pathetically easy to find you. I suggest you head back and let them know where you were. Just tell them you were so enamored with the birds and the bees that you forgot to go back inside. They'll surely let you off the first time with just a slap on the wrist, but if you make them come find you, they won't be so lenient."

Courage swallowed. The fact that Computer was telling him this, much less the fact that he had taken the time to come find him, it was more than a little surprising. Maybe, just maybe, this Computer guy wasn't so bad after all.

Computer shrugged. "Well, do whatever you want to do, but I'm going back inside. All of this sunlight can't be good for my complexion."

Courage stared. Computer practically looked like a ghost he was so pale, and being out in the sunlight only made that more obvious. Even the dark shadows under his eyes were more pronounced like this.

"You and your staring." He huffed, adjusting his glasses in annoyance. "You are lucky I'm so nice. I haven't been outside in, what? Years? And I risked bursting into flames just to come out here to tell you to go back inside. Some thanks I'm getting."

He turned around with an indignant air about him and made his way back onto the path. Courage stepped out of the bushes to follow after him.

"Um, Computer." He called. "T-thank you. I-I really mean it. T-thanks for coming all the way out here."

His roommate stopped only for a moment, as though he were about to turn around and face him. Instead, he simply shrugged and continued walking.

Courage followed after him, thoughts of Muriel still lingering heavy on his mind.

End Of Chapter

A/N: Normally I prefer to write Eustace as a flawed, morally gray character. One who's an asshole with a bad upbringing and a lot of failures to deal with that's made him the way that he is, but he also has moments of humanity and isn't entirely awful. I hope I managed to convey that in All Things End. Well, I decided for this AU to make him a complete and total monster with no redeeming qualities. If he was going to have a bigger on-screen presence, I'd probably do things a little differently, but for now he serves his narrative function.

As for Muriel, she's lying about having the money to get away from Eustace. She just wants Courage to believe that she's somewhere happy, in case the worst happens to her. She is so guilt ridden and had her mentality warped from Eustace's abuse that she believes she doesn't deserve to be around her son for having failed to protect him from Eustace's abusive behavior. She thinks it's best to avoid Courage going forward, unable to see that all he really wants is for his adoptive mother to still be around. She was, after all, the only one he was allowed to be around who was kind to him. She was the only one to stick up for him, often at her own expense.

Man, somehow I'm managing to make an AU that's even more tragic than the main ATEverse, and we haven't even gotten to human Computer's stuff yet. LOL


	4. Breakdown

A/N: So, yeah. If you're someone who's wondering where the new ATE Vol II chapter is and why I'm updating this instead when it's been almost two months since I last put a new chapter up. Long story short, I got sick the week I was planning on sitting down and writing the chapter out, then proceeded to have a bunch of terrible events happen all at once which killed my motivation to write for ages, and then when I decided to sit down again and actually write the chapter, I got hit with some obnoxiously bad writers block. Since I was finding this significantly easier to write, I just rolled with it in hopes that it will break me out of my writers block on the main story.

-Breakdown-

The next three weeks seem to fly by in an instant for Courage. Even though he now had spent an entire month in the hospital, he still was not feeling all that much better. Muriel's visit weighed heavily on his mind, and even though his doctor was trying to prevent it, he still found himself wandering off into the world that only existed inside his head. At least there he could still see Muriel as much as he wanted, as her ever faithful pet. Nowadays he spent just as much time laying around in his room as Computer did. Thankfully, Computer was still completely content to keep to himself and ignore Courage and his wanderings entirely. The only time he ever bothered to bring him back to reality was when they needed to go get their meals.

That morning he went down to the cafeteria like normal, although he felt so out of it that he was practically a machine on autopilot.

"So, it's been one whole month already, hmm?" Said the lunch lady, who had been making an effort to talk to him every day since he got there.

He nodded vacantly as she handed him his drink. She had to have noticed that he was looking a lot worse than the day he had first met her.

"Well," She drawled, stalling briefly for time. "You've been looking a bit under the weather, dear. So, I think I'm going to give you an extra carton of juice to make sure you're getting all of your vitamins. Just don't tell anyone that I'm breaking the rules." She gave him a warm smile and a wink.

Computer, who had been standing beside Courage waiting his turn, rolled his eyes. Unless he was in a big huff about something, he normally was so quiet that it was often easy to forget that he was even there.

Having been given the extra juice, Courage moved on before Computer could make an issue out of having been made to wait. Staring dully down at the extra carton, he knew that he didn't have the stomach to drink it, but he didn't want to waste the gift either. Nowadays he had a hard time eating pretty much anything, but he still made sure to eat at least a little bit so that his doctor would not be informed of his change in habits. He was struggling enough as is without them thinking that he was starving himself.

In the end, he ate his food and drank the extra juice, even though it did not sit well in his stomach. He returned to his room alone, Computer having apparently been sent off to see his own doctor. Glad to be back, Courage flopped down onto the bed, dully aware of how much his stomach was starting to hurt.

Curling up into a ball, he slowly drifted off to sleep, hoping that a nap would cure him of his stomach pain. However, something about the pain seemed to bring on a nightmare far worse than anything he was used to. Eustace was there, but Eustace was always in his nightmares. Instead, Muriel was there as well, and Muriel usually only showed up in his happier dreams.

In this nightmare, Eustace had found out about what she had done. His rage was unlike anything before upon finding out that Courage had been taken away from him forever. He ran at her with an ax, like something straight out of a horror movie that Courage had been unfortunate enough to catch a glimpse of when he was much, much younger.

He was completely paralyzed. Unable to talk, move, or scarcely breathe as he watched the scene unfold. Muriel seemed to run forever, down a twisting, spiraling hallway. Eustace was always close behind, ax raised high and gleaming in the dim light. His face was utterly frightening, contorted almost cartoonishly so with anger.

Courage wanted to scream or cry. He wanted to help Muriel so badly. He'd rather have Eustace take out his anger on him than her, but there was nothing he could do. In this state, he could not put himself between Muriel and Eustace. He could not draw Eustace's rage away from her.

Utterly horrified, all he could do was watch as Muriel began to grow tired and Eustace caught up with her. Mercifully, everything went dark as he swung the ax down on top of her, but that did not stop the scream that pierced the darkness.

Courage's own scream mingled with hers and he suddenly felt arms on his shoulders. Convinced that it was Eustace about to strangle him, he screamed even harder and began to flail around.

"Mr. Bagge! Mr. Bagge! Wake up!"

Courage's eyes shot open as he continued to flail around. He didn't mean to do it, but he accidentally kicked the nurse who had woken him up square in the face.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He cried out repeatedly, still in a state of complete panic.

Tears streamed down his face. The nightmare had been bad enough, but now he had hurt a nurse too and could be punished for it.

The nurse held her nose. There was a decent chance that it was bleeding.

"It's...alright, Mr. Bagge." She uttered out, wincing. "You were clearly suffering from...a night terror. We could hear you screaming from out in the hallway."

Courage caught a glimpse of two other nurses poking their heads in through the doorway.

A little more calm now, he quickly realized that the sun had set outside. He had to have been asleep all morning and afternoon, even though it only felt like a few minutes to him.

"I...I was screaming that loudly?" He asked.

The nurse nodded, still holding her nose.

"I-I'm so sorry." He apologized again. "I-I didn't mean to...t-to-" He couldn't stop himself from stammering uselessly.

"You don't have to worry, Mr. Bagge. I've dealt with worse." She replied, her tone almost business-like. "What we need to know now is if you need any assistance. You seem to have calmed down, but if you need someone to talk to-"

"No, no, I'm okay!" He lied, putting on what had to be a pathetic smile.

"...We're here to help if you need it, Mr. Bagge."

"Really, I'm okay." He repeated. "It was just a nightmare."

The nurse's eyes wandered over to Computer's empty bed. "We all know what nightmares can do. You shouldn't downplay what you just went through. We are here to help you get better, Mr. Bagge. Don't forget that."

Courage swallowed fearfully. "I-I really don't want to talk about it right now."

He would have given anything to get the image of Eustace's face and the sound of Muriel's scream out of his head at that moment. The last thing he wanted to do was describe it out loud.

"That's perfectly understandable. Just know that I will have to make a note of this for your doctor and he may want to talk to you about it."

Courage gave a weak, little nod. Maybe he'd be willing to talk about it with his doctor tomorrow, but it was just too fresh right now. If he could, he'd rather just forget about it, but he knew that it would linger in his mind no matter what he did.

Trying to push past the images, sounds, and the anxiety that came with it, he instead focused on how strange it was that Computer wasn't back yet. He probably would have been the one to wake him up if he had been around to do so, and Courage did not want to think about the hellfire that would have rained down upon him if Computer had been the one to get kicked in the face.

"Where's Computer at?" He asked the nurse before she could leave.

She glanced in the direction of her companions before looking back at him. Very hesitantly she said, "His therapy session went...poorly. They're holding him back a bit so that he has some time to, let's just say, calm down. He'll be back soon though. So don't worry about him. Just focus on yourself for now. If you need any help at all, just let any of us know. We're going to be here all night."

Courage nodded and thanked them. He still felt horrible for what he'd done and apologized for what had to be the millionth time as the nurse left the room.

Too afraid to go back to sleep, and with it being too dark in the room to do much else, he went over to the window and stared out it for the longest time. His mind slowly began to wander back to that place, but now even that was tainted with Muriel's scream. Forced back to reality, he suddenly became aware of the giant, full moon that had come out from behind the clouds. The beams of light coming in through the two windows were so great that the whole room was tinged light blue.

He did not get much of a chance to admire it though because mere moments later, the door swung open and in shuffled Computer, looking half dead. He shut the door behind him and leaned up against it, pressing his gloved hand to his face, as though he were suffering from a terrible headache. He left it there for one long moment before finally running it down his face and turning his dull, sunken eyes onto Courage.

"You're still up?" He asked. There was undeniable anger in his voice. "I heard you had a big freak out. Hit one of the nurses and everything. I'm surprised they didn't stick you with enough needles to knock you out for the next century."

Courage stared, fully aware of the seething hatred just barely concealed behind Computer's every word. Whatever had happened with him today, it was obvious that he was going to take it all out on him.

"You're so stupid." He continued, shuffling forward with obvious exhaustion.

Courage had hoped that Computer would just head over to his bed, but no, he was coming toward him. Wanting no part of this, he very nearly dove under the bed to escape Computer's dull, tired, yet incredibly hateful gaze.

Noticing that Courage was pressing himself up against the window in fear, Computer slowed to a stop. "Could you be any more of a coward?" He huffed. "I think that's what I hate about you the most. You don't know what real fear is and yet you start wetting your pants the second someone even looks at you the wrong way. You live a life of luxury and you don't even know it. So what if you have nightmares? Welcome to the club, twit. You don't see me screaming like I'm being murdered, loud enough that the whole hospital can hear me."

Something ugly started to ignite inside Courage's chest. His fear of Computer was slowly being replaced with anger.

"W-what do you know!" He stammered, trying and failing to raise his voice. "I-I'm not the one w-who had to spent t-the entire day in therapy! I-I bet you're a bigger coward than I am a-and y-you just act t-tough to h-hide it! Deep down, y-you're afraid of the d-doctors, aren't you? A-and I'm the o-one who's a c-coward?"

He immediately knew that he had said the wrong thing. The rage in Computer's eyes told him everything he needed to know. It was the first time that dull, uncaring look that never truly left him had fully disappeared, and it was rather frightening to behold.

The tiny amount of bravery that Courage had mustered up to say what he did left him entirely under Computer's fiery glare, but even though Computer looked like he wanted to tear him limb from limb, he did not advance any closer. Instead, just like that, all of the anger left Computer. He straightened up, smiled, and smoothed out his shirt with a rather terrible gleam in his eyes.

"One whole month, huh?" He asked, grinning up at Courage like he were nothing more than a disgusting piece of filth. In fact, his grin was more like a thinly veiled sneer. "You broke my record, did you know that? Well, I guess it's time that I put your resolve to the test."

Courage gulped, suddenly questioning why he had dared to provoke Computer's anger.

"Besides," His roommate added with a hint of a laugh entering his voice. "I think I've grown tired of you and your constant cowardice anyway."

More than ever, Courage wanted to dive under the bed and hide.

Computer crossed his arms and something cruel edged its way into his voice. "Imagine my shock when I found out that my new roommate was thrown into this prison for something so unimaginably stupid as them thinking they're a dog. I could hardly believe it. They'll lock up anybody for any reason these days, huh?"

Computer's cruel, mocking grin left Courage practically sinking inside himself. His face went red with shame and he wished he could run away. Of course, there was nowhere to go. The bathroom didn't even have a lock. Wherever he might go, Computer could follow.

"I really cannot believe how stupid you are." He chuckled, pressing his gloved hand to his forehead. "So, what is it then? Do you really think you're a dog? Do you-" He practically snorted with laughter. "-really want to chase after trucks on all fours and bark at intruders?"

"S-shut up!" Courage cried out, hating himself for being unable to stop his voice from quivering.

"Well, it's the truth, isn't it?" Computer sneered. "That's why you're in here, because you think you're a stupid, flea-bitten dog. It really is the most idiotic reason I've ever seen for someone to end up here. They should just let you out so that you can be the delusional idiot that you want to be. At the very least, it would make for a great laugh!"

Courage clenched his fists together, anger rising up inside of him. He could not remember a time where he had felt so angry with someone. He would have given anything for Computer to shut up.

"S-stop talking about me like that!" He demanded. "I-it's not like how y-you think! I-it's all in my he-"

"I don't get it." Computer interrupted him. "If you know that it's all in your head, then why-"

"It's because of what Eustace did!" He yelled, clutching his hands to his head. "It's the only place where I'm safe...where I'm happy...where w-we're happy. But..but it will never be real no matter how much I want it to be! We'll never be safe! We'll never be happy! And now he's going to hurt Muriel! And there's nothing I can do about it! I-I didn't want to consider it, but he...he might kill her! She says she's going to try and get back to her family, but...but he'll get to her first! I know he will! Because he'll be so angry that I'm gone!"

"What are you even going on about?" Computer drawled. "I guess I was wrong after all. Maybe you 'do' belong here with us. Good job proving to me that you do have a few screws loose after all. Well, you are right about one thing. You will never be safe and you will never be happy. That's just how the world works. I learned that the hard way and so will you."

"But...but Muriel!" Courage whimpered, tears falling freely. Her scream echoed through his racing thoughts.

"What about her? I bet she's as stupid as you are and I'm sure she's the one who's been enabling all your idiotic delusions. Face the facts, twit. She was probably just looking for a reason to get you out of her hair. If you don't see her again, it'll simply be because she didn't want to see your ugly mug ever again."

It all happened in an instant. Courage felt something inside him snap and he flew forward. Computer didn't even have time to react. Courage grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up into the air. It was the one advantage he had being so much taller than him.

"Don't you ever talk about Muriel like that!" He yelled, trembling with fury.

"It's only the truth!" Computer grunted.

Courage felt the cold grip of Computer's metal hand on the arm that was holding him up in the air, along with the significantly weaker grip of his gnarled one as well.

"You can hate me all you want, you mutt! But I'm the only one in this godforsaken place who isn't delusional! I'm the one who has the clarity to see what is the truth! I see people for what they really are! They will all lie to you! Betray you! Abandon you the moment they no longer want or need you! Many will go out of their way to intentionally hurt you and they will take great joy in your suffering! If there are truly any good people left in this world, like you seem to think your Muriel is, their goodness will do nothing but get them killed. They will be chewed up and spat out like all the rest."

Courage was stunned silent by just how...how bleak and cynical Computer's rant had proved him to truly be. He nearly dropped him out of sheer shock.

"Y-you're wrong." Was the only thing he managed to pathetically utter out.

"Am I?" He asked with a knowing, spiteful grin. "I guarantee that you will never see Muriel again. She has abandoned you. I'm sure she saw you for the delusional, broken mess that you are. We aren't people any longer, you and I. We're just broken refuse waiting to be thrown into the trash compactor, or in your case, a rabid dog waiting to have a bullet put through his brain."

Courage's anger faded away. He was beginning to realize one simple thing. If he was pathetic, then Computer was just as pathetic, if not even more so than him. He didn't even need to say it. Didn't need to dangle it in front of his face.

The big picture was starting to come together in his head, and looking back up at Computer with his cynical yet somehow prideful grin, he said only one thing, "I think I understand now."

"Do you now?" Computer mocked. "And here I thought the truth would break your fragile, little heart."

"You were betrayed by someone you trusted, weren't you? And they hurt you really badly. That's where all of those scars come from, isn't it? They're the one who mangled your hands. They're the reason why you're here now."

In an instant, all of Computer's smug satisfaction turned into icy, cold horror. "Wh-what?" He uttered out in disbelief.

Courage lowered him to the ground, confident that he had taken the upper hand. "The one who did all of this to you, they were to you kinda like what Muriel is to me. Wait, no! I've got it wrong. Your Muriel, they got chewed up and spat out. Their goodness...got them killed. They went through the same thing you did, but unlike you, they didn't make it out, did they?"

Computer backed away so swiftly that he nearly tripped over Courage's bed.

"How did you-" He gasped, his eyes wild with fear. "How could you have possibly ever-"

A wave of self-consciousness seemed to wash over Computer. He tried, in vain, to hide his hands from Courage, but he had no means to hide the scars on his face.

Barely able to choke the words out, he asked, "Who...who told you?"

"You did, Computer. Nobody told me anything because they know you want to keep your circumstances private. They respected your wishes. Not everyone is as bad as you think they are."

Admittedly, he was starting to feel really bad about all of this. He had expected that he would wipe the snide, prideful grin off Computer's face once he had figured everything out, but watching him sink further and further into intense fear wasn't exactly fun.

Computer continued to back away, even though Courage wasn't following him. "I-I didn't mean for it to happen." He pathetically stammered out.

He banged a leg into his own bed very hard, but he didn't even flinch. In fact, he didn't seem to notice at all.

"It's...it's all my fault."

He sounded so sad. His eyes were no longer fixated on Courage either. Instead, it was as if he were staring at something a million miles away.

"Why do they keep doing this to me?" He was talking to nobody now. It was like Courage wasn't even there anymore. "They already know the truth. It should have been me, not him. So why do they keep forcing me to think about it? Why can't they just give me what I want?" He clutched his head as his back hit the wall, teeth grit and eyes squeezed shut. "I...don't...want to..." He slowly uttered out, as if each word were nearly impossible to speak. He seemed to be fighting with something internal that Courage could not even begin to comprehend.

Unable to bear it any longer, Courage moved toward him, desperate to apologize. Computer, in turn, slid down the wall, and once sitting on the floor, drew his knees up to his chest. Courage understood exactly what it felt like when taking such a position. All of those times he had curled up just like that as he waited for Eustace's wrath to come down upon him...

He reached his roommate, leaned down and placed a hand onto his arm only for him to gasp and jump so intensely that Courage pulled his hand back in shock.

"Oh...it's you again." He muttered out, looking so tired, sad, and lost all at the same time. It appeared that he had lost track of how little time had actually passed. "You know, if you're going to make me think about it again, you could at least do me a favor and give me what I want." He lowered his head back down again, and muffed, he very softly said, "They certainly won't."

"Computer, listen. I-I'm sorry for...for causing all of this. I wasn't trying to make you to remember s-something bad, I just-"

Guilt struck him like an icy, cold dagger. This had been exactly what he was aiming for. He had wanted to take everything he had put together and use it against him. He had simply not realized just how much it was going to hurt him.

Computer was lost once more, and this time he appeared to completely lose the fight with whatever was pulling him away.

"No, no, no! Not again!" He cried out with such an air of hopelessness, looking far beyond Courage. "It's always the same! I can't change anything! I can't change what I am! Just kill me and be done with it! Just kill me!"

Courage watched, horrified, as his roommate begged someone who was not even there to end his life. Courage wanted to lean down and shake him out of it, but he was so scared that he would only make things worse if he did.

"You didn't have to hurt him! He was never like me! He didn't deserve it! Please! Just kill me! End this, please! I just want this to end!"

Courage watched with his hands over his mouth as Computer ripped the white glove off his metal hand. He knew immediately what he was planning on doing, and desperate to stop him before it could get any worse, he turned to the door and began banging on it with all of his might.

"Get in here!" He screamed. "Stop him! He's...he's going to-" His voice faltered, overcome with guilt.

What had he done?

...Now he knew exactly why Computer was in this hospital and why he was still here seven long years later.

The sound Courage heard behind him made him wish he could rip his own ears out. He winced with every blow, refusing to look back.

"Please, please. End this! Just end it!" Computer's cries were becoming more pathetic with every word, punctuated only by desperate, choking sobs.

Of course, there was still someone in that room who was more pathetic than him.

"Somebody get in here!" Courage screamed, pounding even harder on the door.

Finally his cries were heard and the nurses rushed in. The sound of them restraining Computer was almost as bad as his continued sobbing and pleads for death.

"Oh, no." Courage heard a nurse say. She was looking in through the door. "...He was doing so much better lately too."

Courage could not stop the tears that had been welling up in his eyes for several minutes now. They fell freely as he choked back a sob of his own.

"Come on, dear." The nurse urged, so much like Muriel. "We'll take you somewhere a little more quiet. You don't have to worry. He'll be okay."

Courage left the chaos of that room behind without looking back. He never wanted to see Computer like that ever again. Regardless of what he wanted though, Computer's cries continued to echo down the hall, even as Courage escaped whatever hell was tormenting his roommate's mind.

"No! NO! OWEN!"

End Of Chapter

A/N: Hoo boy was the last part of this chapter hard to write. Nothing I ever wrote for ATE Vol 1 or 2 was as uncomfortable to put down into writing as this was. Something about it being a human makes it so much worse. The last half of this chapter was the second thing I ever wrote for this AU but it's gone through some heavy tweaking since then. The first half was pretty much entirely scrapped and re-written to better fit the newer context the older chapters have given it. To put it into perspective, the original version of this chapter was barely two pages long while the finished version is a little over nine pages long. The original version also had events play out much more similarly to what happened in the forest storyline in Volume 1, with Courage getting angry and hurting Computer, which acts as the catalyst for his mental breakdown. Here I thought it would be more ironic for Courage to use Computer's own words against him, only to have it backfire on him as much as it backfired for Computer.


	5. Aftermath

-Aftermath-

Courage drifted through the next few days in a complete daze. The day after the incident, his doctor had offered to let him move into a different room if he wanted and he had declined. Perhaps it was guilt keeping him there, or maybe he just wanted a chance to apologize to Computer. Above everything else though, he just wanted to know if he was going to be okay. Unfortunately for him, he did not see anything of Computer after the incident. He never returned to their room and he wasn't showing up at the cafeteria either. Part of Courage wondered if Computer himself had asked to be moved to a different room, but what he feared the most was the possibility that Computer's mental state was still in just as bad of a place as it had been that night. The thought of it mortified him. Even now the nurse's words stuck with him.

'...He was doing so much better lately too.'

Courage picked at the food on his tray, utterly miserable. Almost an entire week had passed with no sign of Computer. He had asked everybody he could about how he was doing, even his own doctor, but nobody would tell him much of anything.

His own therapy sessions had become miserable. He was worrying himself half to death over Computer and yet all his doctor wanted to talk about were his fantasies and the nightmare that had kicked off that horrible night.

He remembered his doctor's words well, 'You need to focus on your own recovery. Understand that he is a long term case and these things happen. You are not to blame for the post-traumatic episode he had that night. He'd already had a minor episode earlier in the day and, unfortunately, he was in the right mental state for it to cascade out of control. This is not the first time he's had a relapse and I doubt it will be the last. You are not the cause and you must not beat yourself up over it. Don't forget that it's our job, not yours, to help him."

Admittedly though, none of what he had said had made Courage feel much better.

Looking up from his food, he scanned the crowd for any sign of Computer. Nothing. It was more than likely that a nurse was bringing him food wherever he was now.

Letting out a sigh, Courage hung his head once more. If only he could get some real answers. He wasn't sure if Computer was even going to return at this point, and the thought that he might not see him again, especially after what happened, made his stomach twist up into painful knots.

He looked over at the lunch line, which was empty due to a lull in activity. He suddenly wanted to talk to the friendly lunch lady. If he could get anyone to actually talk to him about Computer, he knew that it would be her.

He got up and made his way over there as fast as he could. The lunch lady was scrubbing down a pot further in so he had to call out to her to get her attention.

"Well hello, dear." She said with one of her warm, grandmotherly smiles. "Do you need anything? Was something wrong with your food?"

Courage shook his head. "No, no. I just sorta...wanted to ask you about something. I-I want to know if you've seen Computer around lately, or...or if you know about anything that's been going on with him."

The smile faded from the lunch lady's lips. "I had heard he'd had a bad episode. I figured that's why you've been looking so unhappy these last few days." She shook her head. "No, I haven't seen him around lately, but I'm sure they've got him somewhere a little more...secure, for now. So that they can keep a closer eye on him. While he may drive me crazy sometimes with his caffeine addiction, I do feel bad for the poor dear. It's easy to see how much he struggles most of the time, even though he does his best to hide it. Some days are worse than others, but he really has been trying to hold himself together lately."

Courage gulped, feeling the pit in his stomach deepen.

The lunch lady sighed. "I think it's because of you that he was doing so much better this past month. I bet he wasn't expecting you to stay as long as you did, and because he didn't want to look bad in front of you, he tried to avoid having one of his breakdowns for as long as he could. It's why he doesn't like to sleep. The nightmares cause his post-traumatic stress symptoms to flare up. When it gets bad, they say he stops seeing the real world and, well, I guess he starts seeing the things that were done to him as if they're actually happening again. You've seen the scars, and I'm sure you've realized by now that he's missing a hand. I can't imagine what it would be like to relive that sort of thing over and over again."

It took Courage a moment to realize that he was trembling. He had not thought that he could feel even more guilty than he did already and yet the lunch lady's words were doing more than enough to make him feel worse.

"D-do you know exactly what happened to him? I-I'd like to know the full story."

"I'm not sure if it's my place to talk about it, and I honestly only really know what I do from what I've heard from others. He's been here longer than I've been working here." She looked genuinely forlorn.

"I-I want to find out as much as I can, but nobody will tell me anything." Courage explained. "I-I think I'm the reason why he had his episode. I must have...really hurt him."

"Oh, my dear. Don't blame yourself. If anything, you should be happy that you're the reason why he was having fewer episodes lately. But, if you think it's important, I will tell you what I know. I doubt he would be happy to know that I'm telling you these things, but I think you deserve to know the truth."

"T-thank you!" Courage breathlessly exclaimed, feeling as if a weight was starting to lift off his shoulders.

"I don't know the exact details about what was done to him or why, and there are so many rumors that I have no idea what the truth is. All I know for certain is that at some point he was kidnapped and tortured within an inch of his life. He nearly died, even after being rescued. They managed to get him stabilized, but he slipped into a coma for several months afterwords. When he woke up, well, let's just say that he wasn't in the best state of mind. The very first thing he asked his rescuers was why they hadn't let him go."

Taken aback, Courage didn't know what to say at first, but then a question came to mind.

"Do you have any idea who Owen would be?"

The lunch lady's face grew even more grim. "He's the one who's name often comes up when he...he's having an episode."

Courage nodded hesitantly.

"I don't know who he is, but I've often heard unhappy rumors that when our mutual friend was rescued from the basement of the monster who kidnapped him, there was a rotting corpse down there with him."

Part of Courage was starting to deeply regret having asked about Computer.

The lunch lady cleared her throat self-consciously. "I hope that out of all the rumors I've heard over the years, that one isn't true."

"Y-yeah," He agreed.

"Well, in the end, he was brought here because we have several doctors who specialize in working with people with his sort of trauma. I guess that when they tried to get into contact with his family they wanted nothing to do with him. Apparently they hadn't even known he was missing."

The lunch lady grew more hesitant as she continued onward.

"The way he is now, with his grumpy attitude and quips. That's all a fairly recent development. He only really started acting like that in recent years. When he first arrived, things were so very different. From what I've been told, it was like he was a hollowed out shell. It was as if he was someone who'd had their soul sucked out and needed to be guided to do anything. He'd only eat when prompted, speak when questioned, sleep when he could no longer keep his eyes open. The really terrible part is, the only time he acted with any autonomy was...was when he tried to find ways to take his own life. We almost lost him several times, you know. He had to be watched constantly and we had to be careful about what items we gave him. It wasn't until he was given that prosthetic with the promise that he wouldn't use it to do anything to himself that he stopped trying to find ways to...to hurt himself. The chance to have a working hand again must have been too good for him to pass up. He hasn't done anything in a long time, or at least not until now..."

Courage looked away, unable to hide his guilt.

"What's really sad about all of this." She went on with a sigh. "Is that he's entirely open about what he wants. He's already made it perfectly clear what he would do if he was ever released. And it's for that reason the doctors consider his prognosis so dire. As long as he remains a danger to himself, they will never let him out." She shook her head. "I can't judge him for it though. If I'd gone through what he did, if I'd been forced to witness the things that he did, and if my head kept forcing me to relive it all over and over again, I'm sure I'd feel much the same way he does. But still, it's so sad to think about. He might actually spend the rest of his life inside these walls."

When Courage spoke, his voice was so weak that it was almost a whisper. "He's just...waiting to die?"

She nodded sadly.

"I'm so sorry for making you talk about this. I really shouldn't have asked."

"No, dear. It's good that you know now. Yes, it's painful to hear and talk about, but at least you're not in the dark anymore. He...so badly needs a friend who understands. It'll be good for him. I'm certain of that."

"I-I'm not sure I'll even see him again."

"Of course you will. He'll be back soon enough, and while I'm sure he would never admit it out loud, he's going to be pleasantly surprised when he comes back and finds that you're still there. Most relocate after he has a breakdown, but you're just too kindhearted for that, aren't you?"

Her words made him smile. Somehow it was enough to lift some of the guilt hanging over his head.

"I-" He began. "I'll try my best...to be a friend."

"That's what I was hoping to hear."

As if on cue, a rush of patients made their way into the cafeteria.

"I gotta get back to work, dear, but if you need to talk to me again, you can catch me after the dinner rush tonight."

He nodded and got out of the way as several patients brought their trays over.

It hit him that he was supposed to have been escorted back to his room by now, but nobody had shown up, unless they had somehow missed him. Of course, he wasn't exactly easy to miss when he usually towered over everyone around him.

He wasn't sure if he should head back to his room alone or if he should wait. Peeking out into the hallway, he found that it was empty. Just as he was about to ask one the nurses keeping an eye on things in the cafeteria what to do, he heard someone shout his name.

"Mr. Bagge!"

The nurse that he had kicked in the face on that horrible night was rushing hurriedly down the hall. She'd only just appeared from around a corner. There was still a dark bruise around her nose where she had been struck and Courage winced, wishing that it had been some other nurse who was looking for him.

"I'm sorry for the delay, Mr. Bagge." She announced, slightly out of breath. "We had an unexpected change in plans. Your roommate asked to be allowed to return to his room and the doctors gave us the go ahead."

Courage's stomach did a fearful flip at the news. Even though he had so badly wanted Computer to come back, he could not stop the sudden rush of anxiety that washed over him. All of a sudden he was not so sure that he was ready to confront him again. Especially not with all of the new information he had fresh on his mind.

"Before we proceed, I need to ask you one last time. Would you like to be relocated to a different room?"

Courage did not hesitate, regardless of the fear that was bubbling up inside of him.

"No, of course not."

"Ah, okay then. Let's head back, shall we?"

Taking a deep breath, Courage nodded and followed after her. As his anxiety grew, it felt like the walk back to his room was taking a million times longer than normal. Eventually he found himself standing in front of the door and he could not stop himself from fidgeting nervously as the nurse pulled out a key to unlock it.

"Are you sure about this?" She asked, having taken notice of Courage's obvious fear. "You don't have to keep sharing a room with him if you don't want to. We can have you moved somewhere else in no time at all."

"I-I'm fine." He stammered.

The nurse looked unconvinced. "If you change your mind, just let one of us know. Okay?"

He nodded and thanked her. Then, he turned his attention back onto the door and did his best to try and steel his nerves.

Swallowing, he grabbed the door handle and slipped inside as quickly as he could. Immediately his insides turned to ice the moment he caught sight of Computer. He was sitting on his bed with his back turned toward Courage and it was like he had not even heard him come in. He did absolutely nothing and made no acknowledgment of his presence.

And of course Courage suddenly couldn't find his voice. Trembling, he took a step forward. Something about how incredibly still Computer was gave him an eerie feeling. It was like he was looking at a mannequin and not a person.

As he got closer, it hit him that Computer seemed to be cradling something. Curiosity got the better of him and he leaned forward to get a better look. Because he wasn't paying attention, his foot struck the metal leg of Computer's bed, and before he could catch himself, he stumbled forward.

There was a moment where he thought that he might be able to regain his balance, but it was not to be. He came crashing down into the floor, creating enough of a racket that half the hospital could have heard him.

"Owwww..." He groaned, pushing his glasses back up his nose. They'd very nearly gone flying off his face.

Forgetting the pain he was in, he looked up at Computer and froze. His big tumble had been enough to get his statue-like roommate to actually turn his head.

Computer's eyes were soft and sad as he gazed down at him. Somehow his chronically tired face seemed to harbor an even deeper exhaustion now. But what really struck Courage the most was the bruising on his forehead. That was where he must have been...

He shuddered, remembering the sound all too well.

Something about the way he looked must have given his thoughts away because Computer squeezed his eyes shut and looked away with a shameful expression.

"C-Computer!" Courage exclaimed, finally finding his voice. He jumped back up onto his feet, and trying to turn this botched reunion around, he asked, "Are...are you okay?"

A long, awkward silence followed, and just as Courage was beginning to think that Computer wasn't going to talk to him, his roommate let out a small sigh and said,

"They currently have me on enough medication to kill a small elephant so I will let you decide for yourself if I'm okay or not."

Despite how dull and emotionless his voice sounded, something about that quip had Courage feeling a little relieved. The Computer he knew had not gone away or been destroyed by his horrible mistake.

Unfortunately, he then noticed that the thing Computer was cradling was...the bandaged up stump of his missing hand.

"They took your prosthetic away..." He softly uttered out, and whatever relief he felt was overtaken by an all new tsunami of guilt.

"Obviously." Computer dully replied. He mindlessly attempted to clench his gnarled hand open and close a few times, but he could barely manage it. His fingers twitched from the effort and it sent spasms all the way up his arm.

"It's like I told you before," He muttered out miserably. "They had to break a lot of rules just to let me have it and I had to promise them that I would never use it to do harm to myself. Because I broke that promise, it has been taken away for the time being."

Courage bit his lip. "I-I'm so sorry." He choked out. "I-I didn't m-mean to-"

"You don't have to apologize." Computer interrupted him, his head dipping lower. "You're not to blame for my...issues."

"But...but I-" He stammered. This was not what he had been expecting. "I-I'm the one who caused you t-to have t-that...that episode. The nurse e-even said that you had been doing a lot better lately, until I..."

"Don't worry about it." Computer assured him, albeit without much enthusiasm. "I just put on a show for them so that they can have a little hope for me. I'm good at pretending, I suppose. But I guess I couldn't hide my reasons for being here from the likes of you forever. It was bound to happen eventually. I just wish the episode hadn't struck...like that."

Courage couldn't help himself. "I'm sorry." He softly uttered out once more.

Computer gave a small shake of his head and fixated his gaze on the wall in front of him. "I don't blame you for doing what you did. I was being an ass, and while I thoroughly enjoy being an ass, sometimes I forget not to take things too far. I am...sorry for talking to you the way that I did. I was in a bad mood and I wanted to take it out on you. I'd already been struggling most of the day because of my damnable therapist and his inability to leave certain topics alone. All it took was a few words on your part for me to be swept up in a current of old fears and memories. It's...unpleasant when that happens."

"That seems like a bit of an understatement..." Courage nervously laughed.

"I do remember hearing you yelling though. I hope I didn't make you think that I had snapped and was about to attack you or something of the sort. You don't have anything to fear in me. I have little desire to harm anyone, no matter what state of mind I might be in. Besides, this place doesn't exactly do much good for one's muscle tone. I couldn't throw a decent punch even if I wanted to."

Courage could hardly believe what he was hearing. He had not felt even the slightest bit of violent intent coming from the cowering figure who had been pleading to be killed by someone who wasn't even there.

"If I'm going to be honest," Computer went on. "I'm a little surprised that you're still here. After everything that went down, I was sure you'd take them up on their offer to relocate you. That's-" He hesitated. "...usually what happens."

For the first time since returning to this room, Courage felt confident about something. Grinning, he exclaimed, "You can't get rid of me that easily!"

Computer closed his eyes and let out a hollow laugh. "That does indeed seem to be the case. Most sane people would have hightailed it by now, I think."

Courage beamed. "Guess I'm insane then!"

Computer gave a rather indignant sniff. "I suppose I can deal with you and your idiocy for a little while longer. It's not like you're going to get out of my hair either way."

Courage was just glad to see him acting almost entirely like himself again. Plus, much of the gloom that had been surrounding him was starting to dissipate too.

"I-I hope that you start to feel better soon." He offered, wanting to make up for the night that had gone so badly for both of them.

"Well, they added a few sleeping pills to the list of medications they've been shoving down my throat, so I won't be feeling better until they're out of my system. I swear those fools just don't know when to quit sometimes."

"I could stay up with you."

"Ha!" He exclaimed. "You'd be out like a light in no time whatsoever. You simply don't have the temperament for _'real'_ sleep deprivation."

"Try me!" He challenged.

….He barely made it to midnight before falling fast asleep, but when he woke up the next morning, he was surprised to see that Computer hadn't managed to stay awake either. Thankfully, he looked relatively relaxed for once as he slept, which Courage hoped meant that his dreams weren't troubling him for a change.

End Of Chapter


End file.
